Obesity and Gluttony/Sloth

[MSParrott]

Since obesity is becoming such an epidemic for so many people (unfortunately including myself), I am scared - not just for the obvious health reasons, but also because I fear I am guilty of the sins gluttony and sloth.
I am trying to become a better person in my actions and thoughts, but it occured to me last night that when I die I may be condemned for not being the most active person and for overeating.
I know what I need to do to become healthy in body, but it really is a struggle! I also wonder if anyone else has this same issue? These are very serious sins and I am worried…

Thanks in advance for any (name removed by moderator)uts you may have.

 

[CarrieH]

These sins are just one more way that the devil is trying to destroy us. What better way to keep us from doing good works than to keep us at home, stuffing ourselves, too fat and uncomfortable to want to go out, and getting quickly exhausted when we do get moving because we are out of condition? My weight has been a lifelong struggle, and I am a “stress-eater” on top of it. This has been a rough year in our family, and it’s no surprise that I’m back in my fat-clothes again. I know how to diet, it’s just a matter of doing it.

Recently I decided to deal with this problem at the root level. First, I made a list of all of the excuses that I use of “why I can’t stick to a diet” and labeled them as what they really are: the devil’s lies. For every thing on that list, I wrote the truth about what I can do, with God’s help. I copied the St. Michael prayer onto this, printed it out, and posted it on the refrigerator. I heard a homily recently where the priest said that if we are really struggling with something and don’t think we can overcome it, to ask Our Lady’s help. I knew that at some level, but I hadn’t bothered to do that in the past. Now have a holy card of Our Mother of Perpetual Help on display as well. I put myself on a healthy, balanced diet, and slowly the weight is coming off. One of my biggest downfalls is the junk food in the break room at work, so I make myself stay out of it and offer this up as a penance.

The thing that really hit home with me was re-reading “The Imitation of Christ,” the section in Book 1 about “Unbridled Affections.” Those of us who struggle with gluttony have an unbridled affection for food, so I meditated upon that and it was pretty sobering. If you don’t have a copy of this book, you can read it online at ccel.org/ccel/kempis/imitation.html

All together, this approach has worked quite well for me, but it’s still a struggle. And I fall off the wagon every now and then, but now I feel so much worse when I do, both physically and spiritually, that it’s easier to get back on track when I do fall. I hope these suggestions are of some help to you and to anyone else who might be fighting this battle. Good luck and God bless.

 

[rwoehmke]

I understand where you are coming from. I am now over seventy with diabetes, heart disease, etc. and I can’t help but think that in many ways I did not take care of the “temple” that the Lord blessed me with. It is too late to undo the damage, but I don’t think when one is young and in relatively good health that the motivation and understanding is always there. There are of course some who do have reasons for being obese that are beyond their control, but that is rather rare. Like anything else one can also overdo things in the opposite direction and may suffer from such illnesses as anorexia and such. In my opinion if one makes a reasonable effort to control ones eating and get the proper exercise the occasional hot fudge sundae or day spent in the hammock would not be sinful. As some Saint said,“Moderation in all things is best.”

Being moderate in all things in my experience is not always easy, but I think after a while it would become a habit. Total deprivation from things like chocolate on the other hand will prove disasterous. The one piece of advice on a practical level I would give is to pray every day and practice portion control. The Super Size mentality that has taken us by storm is more of a problem that the type of food we eat.

 

[Pete_1]

I don’t know if this will help but drinking water instead of fruit juce and coke etc can help some people lose weight. a 330ml can of coke contains 66% of the amount of sugar you are meant to consume in one day .

 

[Cran]

Thia does of course not applyto everybody, or the majority, but overeating can be a psychological problem as well as eating not enough (anorexia nervosa).

If the struggle becomes unbearable, nothing comes out of it but failure, failure, more failure and the feeling that the emotions are out of control BECAUSE the eating habits have changed, this might be a more serious issue than just getting the willpower to change eating- and exercisinghabits.

But being overweight is a growing problem, and of course develops in most cases because we are too lazy or don’t know any better.

Idon’t think you’re being “condemned” for a problem that you have realized and you’re tying to change it - that would be like condemning somebody because he is only trying to acquire the greatest degree of humilty and other virtues and just being “ordinary” and have a relapse sometimes.

Guilt is not the best way to get yourself moving, I think, because this makes the new lifestyle… hm, not as atractive if the thoughts go more along the lines: Great, how active I can be, how lovely to exercise again, never knew how good such a fresh salad could taste without a fatty dressing etc.

 

[aurora77]

It’s hard to eat properly in our society. I don’t have issues with weight, thankfully, but I do have other health issues that I have to address and eating right and getting enough excercise are both things I MUST do or I could condemn myself to a very difficult life. I had a total hysterectomy 4 months ago so I’m at a huge risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, weight gain, all that fun stuff. I’m only 30, so I want to have a long and happy life, not a shorter, sicklier one.

Would you all be interestd in a healthy eating support thread, kind of like the exercise support thread? I would be, so if ya’ll would like that, maybe we could do a weekly virtual support gropu!

 

[westcoast]

A lot of the overeating, in my experience, comes from eating certain foods. ALL flour, whether whole-grain, refined, whatever, is already processed and very often increases cravings for more food. Same with sugar, even fruits sometimes. If you really simplify yourself with REAL food only, like that which can be eaten in its natural form (not cereal, crackers, pretzels, flour-based stuff that is packaged and goes through some big processing plant and comes out in pretty packaging) you will find that your self-control will be SO much easier because your cravings will go way down. Picture the people who live in different countries and do not have access to all this packaged stuff, ONLY vegetables, fruits, meats, and a few grains, like rice. They obviously live fine. But I think in America we are so used to having such a smorgasborg at our fingertips that we think eating only real food, without all the packaged stuff, is sooo, soooo hard, and sooo, sooo depriving. When I feel that way, I tell myself, Oh, wah, so your every meal isn’t a huge banquet, laden with “fun” foods that taste soo delicious, get over it! Good luck, really, it will be so much easier for you if you reduce your foods to whole foods and reduce your sodas to diet sodas or diet cold teas, etc, there are a ton out there!